Grand Menagerie (Scneario)
"Falamar..." Chaeli whispered. He pushed her against one of the massive crates that littered the docks of Dunwich, The moon was well past its zenith and the narrow gap between two crates where they found themselves was hidden in shadows. It was a beautiful night, but the stink of the docks hung in the air. She leaned back as his kisses wandered down her neck to her very ample bosom. Only stopping when she playfully pulled his hands away when they reached inside her bodice. "Ain't ya ever wanted to be with the legendary Falamar?" he asked and she smiled radiantly, letting him grope her until he begain pulling up in her dress. "No, no," she said, "just kiss me." There was a second of anger in his eyes, even in her drunken haze Chaeli recognized it, she had seen it before from the men and it never ended well. He kissed her again raising her hands above her head where he held both with one of his hands. He held them so tightly they felt like they were menacled to the wall. His other hand reached down and pulled up her dress, tearing it aside and reaching hungrily into it. "No, Falamar," she yelled. Then when he wouldn't stop she bit his cheek. He let go of his dress and punched her full in the face, her head crunched agains the wooden crate and seagulls along the dock yelled in complaint and took to flight. She started crying as he reached again for her dress. "Did someone call me?" A man standing at the edge of the crates asked. The attacker, the man pretending to be Falamar, quickly let go of Chaeli and stepped away from the speaker. The speaker was a thin handsome man, lean and confident though he looked dangerous now, like a coiled snake. Though Chaeli felt unthreatened by him, her attacker felt differently and he immediately let go of Chaeli. "Captain Falamar," he stammered. "Issac?" Falamar answered, "I was sure I heard my name." Falamar, the real Falamar, kept advancing into the makeshift alley between the crates and Issac kept backing up. When Falamar reached Chaeli he asked her, "Are you okay?" She nodded and tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. She could already feel her face bruising up from the punch. "I'm sorry Falamar," Issac said, "sometimes I tell the gullie's I's you. Just a bit of wishful dreaming I suppose." "That is not the crime I am concerned about." Falamar answered. Then Falamar struck, jumping forward he caught the larger man by the collar and slammed him back against the crates. Issac drew his knife but Falamar knocked it easily aside. With Issac trapped against the crates Falamar punched him, splintering Issac's cheekbone so severely it left his left eye rollig loosely in its socket and his cheek ran flush with purple blood. "Go or I will give my sword to the lady and she will act out her desires on you, as you had intended for her." Issac scrambled away. Chaeli, stunned into silence until this moment, fell suddenly into uncontrollable tears. Falamar tilted up her face, checking her bruise and as her sobs quieted he gave her a slight smile. "Can I walk you home?" Chaeli only nodded in response. They walked in silence through the empty strees. Despice the truma it was still a beautiful night and as they approached the squat flat Chaeli shared with her family, she finally spoke. "I thought... he said he was you." Falamar waited until they stood before her door before he answered. "You deserve better than the Dunwich docks. Expect more from men, no matter their name." She nodded, not really understanding. "Will you be okay?" Falamar asked. "Yes, my father is home. I will be okay, thanks to you." Falamar gave her another slight smile, said good night and headed back toward the docks. They were supposed to have set sail hours ago but Falamar was late as usual. He arrived to find the ship and crew ready. Several men traded knowing glances as he came abord. "What was her name this time captain?" one called. "I didn't ask." Falamar responded. His men laughed and cheered, they all assumed incorrectly, but it boosted their spirits and Falamar saw little harm in it. The legend was certainly greater than the man, but when you regularly asked your men to face death sometimes it was easier if they believed a legend led them. Amergin, Falamar's first mate, had already loaded the supplies and made sure the crew was on board and relatively sober. He had questions but had been serving Falamar since they were both boys, so he knew he would get the answer when Falamar was ready. "Yes, Amergin, we will be sailing out by moonlight. I have a contract from a Balseraph princess and it seems we need to make up some time. She pays well, and needs us to trap some animals for her." "It's an unusual task for you." Amergin commented. "Easy gold and a damsel who needs help. It sounds exactly like me." Amergin smiled and ordered the crew to lift the anchor and set sail. Within seconds the ship was off to the Aegis Isles. Strategy This is the first scenario on the list, and is designed as a small tutorial in movement, therefore this scenario is rather easy. The Grand Menagerie requires you to get certain animals and build the Grand Menagerie. This is an easy scenario, hard to lose. Its a good scenario to learn the side game of hunting animals. You are required to search in different terrain for different animals: Tiger (Jungle), Gorilla (Jungle), Bear (Forest), Lion (Desert); Elephants will never attack--only defend. A simple way to do this is to send all of your Hunters east to the desert and fortify them on the hills, so that they gain experience from killing the (rapidly-reproducing) Lions. Attacking a Lion on a Desert tile also has its advantages. NOTE: Animals will never spawn on a tile that is visible by your forces--for example, if the entire desert region is revealed by your Hunters, no Lions will spawn. Animals to catch: Lion Bear (Polar) Wolf Tiger Gorilla After the Wonder is Built: Elephant Griffon Additional animals to catch: Hill Giant Sea Turtle Giant Spider Known Bugs 'Missing Griffon' After you build the Wonder, try to find and capture the Griffon as fast as possible. If left to it's own devices, the Griffon may fly away from the island and go into a sort of "loop" at one of the corners of the map, where your hunters can't reach it. It's possible that the Griffon may return on its own after 50-100 turns, but in this case there's no shame in entering World Builder mode and placing another Griffon on the island, or at least giving yourself a boat that can carry hunters toward it. (Note: technically this may not be a bug, just a consequence of the random number generator for where the AI-controlled animal will go.) Category:Scenarios